Between July 1991 and December 1993, 80 patients with gallstone and/or gallbladder polyp were considered candidates for laparoscopic cholecystectomy. We attempted 7 cases of laparoscopic cholecystectomy for patients with nonvisualizing gallbladder by DIC, and in 6 cases, the laparoscopic cholecystectomy was successfully completed. In the remaining 1 case the operation was converted to open cholecystectomy due to severe acute cholecystitis. During the same period, there were 8 patients who had previous upper abdominal surgery, and in 4 of these patients, laparoscopic cholecystectomy was successfully completed. All patients were free of major complications intra and postoperatively. We can extend the indications for laparoscopic cholecystectomy as skill with this procedure increases. We believe that this procedure will become the standard operation for benign gallbladder diseases in the near future in Japan.